Blog Posts

You Are Successful

5/5/2019

When I was younger I used to think that getting into a good college would mean that I was successful. Once I got into college, I thought that getting a degree meant that I would be successful. Once I received my degree, I thought that landing my first job would mean that I was successful. Once I landed my first job, I thought that making more money would make me successful. Once I began making more money, I thought that my position and network would make me successful because after-all, your network is your net-worth according to the world. After establishing a good network and being promoted into a higher position, something still made me feel as though I had not reached the level of success that my heart desired over the years. It was almost as if I had been chasing success only to never catch it, and I finally reached a point in life where I felt exhausted from the chase.

Have you ever set a goal for yourself of what you wanted to achieve to be successful, reached that goal, and then after some time passed by, you still felt as though you were not successful? This has happened to me so many times in life that I have lost count of every instance. What I came to realize is that it all comes down to how you define your own success. Is your success defined by where you are in life right now career wise? Is it defined by your financial status? Is your level of education or how many degrees you have an indicator of your success? Is your success equated to the car you drive, the clothes you wear, the amount of times you travel to new places throughout the year, the fun experiences that you have, the people you know, or the followers you have on social media? Take a moment to think about it, what do you believe you need to have or where do you believe you need to be in life to truly consider yourself to be successful?

When I went through a period in life not having a job it finally opened my eyes to understanding what success really meant for me. Success is not defined by my job title, my salary, my social status, or any other materialistic element in life. Success is a gift from God that I receive through placing all my trust in Him. This month, I believe that God wants to remind each one of you that as long as you place your trust in Him and remain connected, you are successful.

In the book of Ecclesiastes King Solomon intentionally goes on a trivial pursuit for things in life like wisdom, pleasure, career, and wealth, only to reveal that they are all like chasing after the wind. These things appear to be tangible to the human eye but once you try to take hold or grab them, there is nothing actually there.

16 I said to myself, “Look, I am wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I have greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them.” 17 So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly. But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind. (Ecclesiastes 1:16-17 NLT).

1 I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure. Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.” But I found that this, too, was meaningless. 2 So I said, “Laughter is silly. What good does it do to seek pleasure?” 3 After much thought, I decided to cheer myself with wine. And while still seeking wisdom, I clutched at foolishness. In this way, I tried to experience the only happiness most people find during their brief life in this world. 4 I also tried to find meaning by building huge homes for myself and by planting beautiful vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks, filling them with all kinds of fruit trees. 6 I built reservoirs to collect the water to irrigate my many flourishing groves (Ecclesiastes 2:1-6 NLT).

18 I came to hate all my hard work here on earth, for I must leave to others everything I have earned. 19 And who can tell whether my successors will be wise or foolish? Yet they will control everything I have gained by my skill and hard work under the sun. How meaningless!...... 21 Some people work wisely with knowledge and skill, then must leave the fruit of their efforts to someone who hasn’t worked for it. This, too, is meaningless, a great tragedy (Ecclesiastes 2:18-19, 21 NLT).

Stop wasting your time pursuing superficial things like King Solomon did. These very things that the world has defined as successful that seem tangible to you are in fact fleeting. Matthew 16:26 AMP asks us, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world [wealth, fame, success], but forfeits his soul?...”. In other words, what kind of deal is it to get everything you want in life but you still remain empty, or feel lost?

This month, know that you are successful by recognizing that your success is a gift from God. Let it be measured by the way you serve and honor Him daily. Be a vessel here on earth for God by leaving footprints of faith and inspiration wherever you may go. Learn to be content with exactly where God has you in life (Ecclesiastes 2:12-13 NLT). Follow and stay focused on God placing all your trust in Him, so then, you will be able to always succeed in whatever you do or wherever you may go (1 Kings 2:3 NCV). Remember that God is the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Him and He remains in you, you will bear much fruit; but apart from Him, you can do nothing (John 15:5 NLT).

Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
With praise we lift up your name today, glorifying you for your unconditional love, your patience, your mercy, and your goodness day after day. You are our source that provides all our needs. For this and so much more we honor you, we adore you, we love you, and we thank you. Burn away anything standing in the way of our relationship with you and wash away our sins. Continue to be our mind regulator and purify our hearts. God teach us how to recognize the false facades of success that the world has created so that we do not become wind chasers. Keep us chasing after you, keep us craving for more and more of you. Let us never forget that you are our satisfaction and success is a gift from you. Apart from you life is meaningless, apart from you, we can do nothing so keep us in constant relationship with you. Help us remain focused on you as we continuously strive to become better versions of ourselves, serve you, and actively be vessels here on earth for you. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

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Grace

4/2/2018

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Last year on Easter (Resurrection Sunday) I remember laying in the emergency room after experiencing some painful breathing following an emergency surgery I had a few days earlier. The doctors ran tests on me and performed a CT scan. After receiving the results I had a doctor and nurse come into my room to let me know that I had a blood clot near my heart. They discussed the importance of immediately beginning treatment and began to prepare me for treatment as they explained what this meant. All I can remember about that moment following the news is that there were a ton of different thoughts running through my mind. I took a moment to talk to God in my head about everything that was going on and as I was being treated by my nurse, I tuned out the words she spoke and I remember praying. The doctor came back into the room later and he told me that he had a few experts review the CT scan results as well and there was a misreading the first time. The doctor stated that somehow it now appeared that I did not have any blood clots and that I would be fine to go home. In complete shock I looked over at my mother and told her, I knew that whatever was going to happen that God had me covered because I prayed about it. She laughed at me and thanked God.

When I look back over this situation it is a constant reminder of God's uncanny grace. God did not have to turn my situation around just because I prayed when a problem arose but He did. The simple fact that I had already been provided with results that I had a blood clot and something told the doctor to consult with experts was a sign of God's grace. Every time I think about a drastic situation like my blood clot incident that took place in my life it causes me to remain in a constant thankful state for the daily grace that God gives me. It is by the grace of God that I have the ability to write this blog. It is by the grace of God that I am alive and well today. It is by the grace of God that I am loved unconditionally. It is by the grace of God that I have complete peace and joy.

As I sat back to reflect on the word or message that I believe God wanted me to share with you for the month of April, grace is the one word that came to mind. With Resurrection Sunday falling in this month and April marking the official start of the second quarter in 2018, I believe that God wanted me to remind people about His grace. You see grace today has become one of those daily privileges that so many individuals (myself included) have taken for granted. This month God wants to remind you that everything you are, everything you have, everywhere you’ve been is all by the grace of God.

One of my favorite verses in the bible around grace is 1 Corinthians 15:10 NIV which states: “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” God is about to blow your mind this second quarter but He wants you to remember that everything you will be blessed with is by the grace of God.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
We thank you for grace. Grace that surpasses all understanding. Grace that covers over a multitude of our sins. Grace that yields miraculous blessings at inopportune times. Grace that protects us. Grace that provides us with 24/7 access to you. Grace that is all knowing and has our best interest at heart. Grace that breaks through barriers and jumps over hurdles. Grace that knows us in our most purest form but has also witnessed us in our darkest forms. Grace that saved us. Grace that supplies us with wisdom, knowledge and power. Grace that works on our behalf when we don’t know it. We give you glory for grace God. We give you glory for allowing your only son to die for our sins and rise again. Thank you for your unconditional love. This month we pray that you purge our hearts, our minds, our souls, and our surroundings. Remove all narrow minded thinking that may cause us to limit you. Keep your grace a constant reminder at the top of our minds. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

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Shift

3/4/2018

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I was recently watching a sit down conversation that Devon Franklin was having with Touré Roberts. In the conversation, Devon gets into how in writing his book “Produced by Faith” back in 2011, he had high expectations for it to sell and make the New York Times best sellers list. He mentioned there were quotes from Will Smith, Bishop Jakes, Tyler Perry, Angela Bassett, etc and when the book came out, he barely sold 1,000 copies which left him deeply devastated. Devon described how he went through a moment of questioning God: “I had all of this support and I had my publicist and I had used my savings and was paying for all of these things so why didn’t I make the list?” Devon said that God sat him down and questioned him asking if the only reason why he wrote the book was because it was in his heart to make a list. Over the weeks Devon mentioned that he received emails from people about how the book was changing their lives and changing their careers and God told him “if only one life got turned to me, it was worth all the money you spent, and all the publicity for the one”. Devon stated to God “but God I believe you told me that this is going to be part of my destiny” and God responded: “It's in my time not yours so if you want to be faithful keep working the book and leave everything else to me.”

When Devon heard God speak to him in this way, he said that he had to shift from being list focused to being life focused understanding that every life God touched because of his book was a blessing. Devon reveals that five years later, what God said was going to happen with him making the New York Times best seller happened but it happened through his book “The Wait” that he co-wrote with his wife and it happened in God's time, not his own.When Devon heard God speak to him in this way, he said that he had to shift from being list focused to being life focused understanding that every life God touched because of his book was a blessing. Devon reveals that five years later, what God said was going to happen with him making the New York Times best seller happened but it happened through his book “The Wait” that he co-wrote with his wife and it happened in God's time, not his own (go check out the video below if you have a moment, the part I am referring to starts at 6mins 10secs and ends at 10mins 25secs).

How many of you have ever felt like you were doing what you know God called you to do but from the results or lack there of, you felt like you were failing or simply just not getting anywhere? You finally started your company but business is not flourishing the way God had you envision it. You showed up every day to the classroom to teach but the majority of the students are still misbehaving and not really learning what you know you are supposed to be teaching them, etc.

As I was preparing to write last months blog, God instructed me to write about shifting in the month of March. I believe that God knew that with this being the last month in our first quarter of 2018, there are some plans that people may have started out with at the beginning of this year that may seem useless. You have been obedient and you have been consistent with what God has called you to do yet you have failed to see your fruit and now you are questioning whether or not this is all a waste of your time or whether you are successful in doing what God has called you to do. I am here this month to let you know that God has you exactly where He wants you to be but He needs you to shift your train of thought so that you can see the eternal glory that is being produced through everything that you are doing.

God took me to 2 Corinthians 4: 16-18 NIV which states, “16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

In the same way that Devon had to shift from being list focused to being life focused, I believe that this month God is calling us to shift from being earthly-minded to being spiritually focused. This shift will help us to understand that though we may not physically see fruit, it is being produced eternally in a way beyond all comparison through us and the people whose lives we may touch. In God's timing, not our own, His glory will be revealed through our obedience. In the meantime, if you are someone who feels that you may be wasting your time because you do not see the results, I challenge you to do one thing this month, shift.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
We love you, we adore you and we honor you. In complete surrenderance of our mind, our body, and heart, we ask that you purify everything within us and uproot anything that may hinder us. With a desire in our hearts to live out our full potential we pray for a shift in our thought process Lord. Fix our eyes not on the things seen but on what is unseen. Strengthen our faith, continuously renew our hope and bless us with the ability to remain patient. Cover our every move and protect our destiny, remind us that in your timing, not our own, all things will work together for our good. May you get the glory out of every mistake, every fall, every mountain we face, and every desert we must cross, replenishing and encouraging us every step along the way. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

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Locking In

2/4/2018

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I was recently blessed with the opportunity to manage a larger territory at work and it required me to create Excel spreadsheets to thoroughly lay out the information I needed to know about each account I would be working with. It took me hours to manually go through transferring all of the information I needed to know about each account to a new spreadsheet. Once I finished, I asked one of my managers to meet with me and help me with excel. When we met, my manager told me that he wished I would have requested to meet with him sooner because all of the work I manually did transferring information could have been done in 5 minutes by simply using formulas in Excel. He then took his time patiently walking me through how to create formulas and teaching me new terminology that I was unfamiliar with.

Reflecting, I realized that when it comes to finishing things that I have planned to do, I sometimes have a habit of locking in my mind the set steps I will take to get something done. By doing this at work I actually ended up delaying myself and made my job a lot harder than it had to be. When my boss revealed to me that there was an easier way to get things done that he could have shown me if I had asked for help, it made me think about the countless times I had done the very same thing to God.

How many of us have been guilty of locking in our minds the set steps we want to take to complete a plan that we have? Think about the mother who plans to take her child to school and pick them up after work, but her child ends up sick and has to leave school early so she finds herself frustrated that her steps to complete her plan have been derailed by an unexpected circumstance. Think about the college student who planned on going to school and getting their degree in four years but their program ends up taking them five years to complete so they have to re-plan their steps. Think about the couple who planned on getting married but hard times hit and they may no longer afford to get married the way they initially thought they would.

I believe that this month, God wants us to stop locking in on our own set ways of the steps we will take to complete our plans. In the bible there is a scripture in Proverbs 16:9 NIV that says, “we can make our own plans, but the Lord determines our steps”. The moment we lock in on our own set way of doing things, it has the ability to delay our process, exhaust us, frustrate us, and more importantly steer us away from the direction/steps that God wants us to take in following our divine plans. This month, allow God to “instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; let Him counsel you with His loving eye on you” (Psalm 32:8 NIV). If you seek His will and seek His way, the Lord will direct you every step along the way.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
We give you glory! Hallelujah to the God who reigns. Hallelujah to our king. Hallelujah to the one who carried us through the first month of the year and brought us into the second month. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! We honor you. We give you praise. We shower you with our love. Thank you for being who you are. Thank you for your unconditional love. Thank you for your persistence. Thank you for never giving up on us. We thank you, we thank you, we thank you Lord, for everything. Wash away our impurities and create in us a pure heart oh God renewing a steadfast spirit within us that keeps us aligned with your will, connected to our purpose, and desperate for more of you. We cancel worry, doubt, fear, anxiety, and anything else that may try to hinder us from surrendering our lives to you. Release your holy spirit over our minds, release your holy spirit over our hearts, release your holy spirit over our tongues, release your holy spirit over our actions, and release your holy spirit over our plans. Direct and instruct us in the ways we should go to complete our plans. Bless us with wisdom, patience, discernment and peace. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

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Chasing After God

1/7/2018

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As I sought God for direction to write this months blog, I heard Him loud and clear. I believe that this month, God wanted me to let readers know that 2018 will be your year to chase after Him. The interesting thing about this message is that when I heard it, I went to look up the definition of the word chase. The Merriam Webster dictionary defined chase as “the act of chasing : pursuit or an earnest or frenzied seeking after something desired”. My pastor over the last few months has been constantly preaching that 2018 is the year of pursuit. When I turned to my bible, God emphasized seeking Him as He kept taking me to read about Asa, King of Judah in 2 Chronicles 14: 2-7 NIV.

2 Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. 3 He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. 4 He commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his laws and commands. 5 He removed the high places and incense altars in every town in Judah, and the kingdom was at peace under him. 6 He built up the fortified cities of Judah, since the land was at peace. No one was at war with him during those years, for the Lord gave him rest. 7 “Let us build up these towns,” he said to Judah, “and put walls around them, with towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God; we sought him and he has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered.

Similar to the way that King Asa had to make sure that certain things were in order throughout Judah in order to seek the Lord, this year there are going to be things that you have to continuously make sure are in tact during your chase:

Your Priorities - In a world where we are conditioned to multitasking and constantly be on the go it can become difficult to place things on hold and put God first. In a position of authority, there had to be so many things on King Asa’s plate but no matter what, he placed God first. It is imperative that you seek God first throughout your chase in 2018 and everything else will be given to you (Matthew 6:33 NIV). Make sure your time spent with God takes precedence over everything else in your life. Make your prayers a priority, make reading the word a priority, and make reflecting on the word a priority.

Your Focus - It is so easy to let the things of this world sway our mind or thought pattern but this year we must strive to set our minds on things above, not on earthly things (Colossians 3:2 NIV). Instead of investing so much time appeasing our flesh through: social media, television, pampering ourselves, or relationships, we are going to have to take a stance in the way King Asa did to condition ourselves to focus, and know how to remove all distractions when chasing after God.

This past Thursday night at bible study, my pastor let another pastor by the name of Jerome Glenn preach and he spoke about how when you pursue God's presence you will possess His promises. In 2 Chronicles 14:7 NIV King Asa states “because we have sought the Lord our God; we sought him and he has given us rest on every side”. That same scripture goes on to tell us how when the people of Judah built, they prospered. This year, chase after God relentlessly knowing that in His presences is where your blessings will fall. In His presence is where peace, rest and joy will be found. In His presence is where your foundation will be built and prosperity will be birthed. In His presence is where the impossible will be made possible. In His presence is where defeat becomes victory. In His presence is where brokenness is made whole. In His presence is where fear becomes confidence. In His presence is where pride is stripped away to become humility. In His presence is where pain is translated into purpose. In His presence is unconditional love, safety, forgiveness, acceptance, healing, guidance, strength and where so much more is housed. God’s presence is the ultimate prize and when we seek Him with all of our heart, we will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13 NIV). Throughout the month of January and all this year, continue chasing after God.

A song that truly moves my spirit by Tye Tribbett is called Chasing After You. It’s an older song but it’s a good one to help put things in perspective of what chainsing after God truly looks like, so take a moment to listen to the youtube video below before going into the prayer.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
We are wowed by your faithfulness and give glory to your holy name. Thank you for blessing us with another year, another day, another breath. You brought us through 2017 and for that we give you glory! For everything that is going to happen in 2018, we trust you and we give you glory in advance. We thank you in for victory in 2018, thank you for growth and every lesson that will be learned. Thank you for the hard times and thank you for the good times. Thank you in advance for all of the things that we will forget to thank you for throughout the year. As we kick off this new year we pray that you place a desire in our hearts to chase after you and you alone God. Make us desperate to remain in your presence and be where you are. Teach us how and when to seek your face daily while filling us with contentment and complete satisfaction in your presence. Take us from glory to glory this year. Fill us up in an unimaginable way and anoint us like never before. Let our priorities and focus remain in tact and let nothing knock us off of our square. Cover us, protect us, and keep us. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

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Overboard

12/3/2017

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On Monday September 4th, I remember studying the book of Jonah that night when the Lord spoke clearly to me about what it was I needed to write about in the month of December. The word “Overboard” kept popping up in my mind. In that moment I remember telling God that I didn’t understand the connection and what that meant. Last week, while I was watching television one of my favorite movies that I used to have on vhs came on television and it was called “Overboard”. It’s a 1987 comedy/romance about a spoiled, wealthy woman by the name of Joanna who lives a daily life of luxury and leisure yet she is rude, snobby, and inconsiderate. While sailing on her yacht one night, Joanna falls overboard and suffers with temporary amnesia. A carpenter by the name of Dean, after seeing Joanna on the news goes and claims her as his wife because he wants revenge for Joanna never paying him for a job he did for her. After convincing Joanna that she is a working class wife and mother of four, Dean provides Joanna with a list of household chores for her to do daily while watching the four children. Over time you begin to see how Joanna’s attitude shifts, she becomes more patient, kind, loving, humble, and eventually her and Dean actually fall in love. Take a moment to check out the movie trailer below.

Once I saw the movie and I went back to read the book of Jonah for what had to be the fifth or sixth time, I finally saw the connection. You see most of the times, when I have heard about the book of Jonah I have only heard about the main character, Jonah. Jonah is not who God wants us to focus on for the sake of the message that He wants to deliver this month so pay close attention to the story below but I want you to focus on the sailors as though they are the main characters.

In the bible, there is a story about a man name Jonah who attempts to flee from the Lord after hearing clear instruction from Him. Jonah boards a ship with a group of sailors to head to a city name Tarshish. Once the ship set off to sea, the Lord sent a powerful storm so violent that the ship was in danger (Jonah 1:1-4 NIV). “All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship” (Jonah 1:5 NIV). Eventually, the sailors end up approaching Jonah,

"So they asked him, ‘Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?’ He answered, ‘I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.’ This terrified them and they asked, ‘What have you done?’ (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.) The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, ‘What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?’ ‘Pick me up and throw me into the sea,’ he replied, ‘and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you’. Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. Then they cried out to the Lord, ‘Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.’ Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm" (Jonah 1:8-15 NIV).

The commonality that I noticed both between Joanna and the sailors was that they both had cargo that needed to be thrown overboard in order to progress or move forward. When Joanna fell overboard, due to her temporary amnesia, it was like throwing out her rude, snobby, and prideful personality which allowed for her to become a better version of herself displaying genuine humility and ultimately finding true love. When the sailors stopped trying to take matters into their own hands and actually decided to get rid of the cargo that revealed itself as the problem, they witnessed the storm cease and the sea grow calm so that they could continue to progress and move forward (Jonah 1:15 NIV).

This month I believe that God wants you to take time to reflect on your cargo that must be thrown overboard before you enter into 2018. What are the things in your life that need to go because they have fault in hindering you from going where God has called you to go or doing what you are trying to do? Is it fear? Your attitude? Negative relationships? Certain people? Pride? Insecurity? Whatever it may be, identify it, and throw it overboard in 2017 because it cannot go where God has called you to go in 2018 and taking it is not part of God's divine plan for your life.

This month, once the cargo that is weighing you down reveals itself, don't try to take matters into your own hands like the sailors initially did (Jonah 1:13 NIV) but instead, seek God for confirmation (Psalm 37:23 ESV), pray over it continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17 NIV), and make a conscious decision to throw it overboard.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
We love you, we adore you, we honor you, and we worship you. Glory for blessing us with the ability to be standing in the last month of the year. Glory for your faithfulness, glory for your consistency, and glory for being who you are. We pray that you forgive us for every sin committed up until this very moment Lord. Purify us and bless us with a new beginning. As we prepare to enter into 2018, begin to reveal the cargo in our lives that we need to throw overboard in order to go where you want to take us and live how you want us to live. We rebuke hinderance and call everything that may be holding us back to light so that we may surrender it to you and throw it overboard. Bless us with wisdom. Bless us with discernment. Bless us with clear direction. Bless us with open ear gates. Bless us with strength. Bless us with resistance. Bless us with spiritual prosperity. Bless us with protection. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

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Promises

11/5/2017

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Early last month God instructed me to write this month's blog about promises. Uncertain as to why, God gradually began to place different reasons in front of me through: scriptures, songs, a sermon from my pastor, and a book that I noticed sitting in my grandmother’s room entitled “Bible Promises For You” just before I began to write the blog. As we are in the month of November I believe that God wants us to continuously remember His promises and trust that they will be fulfilled according to His will.

One of my favorite verses in the bible where God reassures us that He will faithfully keep His promises is Psalms 89:34 NLT, “No, I will not break my covenant; I will not take back a single word I said.” This verse is a testament to the fact that God does not make empty promises, His word is His bond, and He is always reliable.

God’s promises are rooted in the word, His promises are true, His promises are always fulfilled, and His promises are our guidance. “God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?” (Numbers 23:19 NLT). This month I challenge everyone reading this blog to keep God’s promises rooted in the foundation of your life. Throughout the month begin to think of promises that God has already fulfilled in your life, then intentionally begin to search God’s word for His promises as well. Once you find His promises in the word and have thought about promises He has already fulfilled in your life, begin to write them down somewhere and stand on those promises through daily prayers thanking God for what has been done and for what will be done.

Below is a song that God exposed me to last month about His promises. It is called “Promises (Your Word Will Stand) by For All Seasons. This song has truly been an incredible blessing. Shortly after hearing the song and playing it on repeat in my car, my pastor preached about the benefits of corporate worship and how there is a promise attached to your worship. My pastor went on to mention how your worship is what is going to give you the victory. Before you say the prayer below, I want you to take a few moments, close your eyes, listen to the song and begin to worship God. If you don’t know where to start, or what that might even mean, simply start out by thanking God for all of the things that begin to come to your mind as you hear the song. Although you may physically be in worship alone, know that there are other people who will read this blog and worship as well which solidifies this as a corporate worship. As soon as the song ends immediately delve into the prayer below.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
We pour out our devoted love on you because you are excellent. You are great and greatly to be praised. You are our redeemer. You are our provider. You are our King and ruler over everything. You’re the reason for the breath in our lungs. You’re the reason for the full activity of our limbs. You’re the reason for our joy. You’re the reason for our peace. You’re the reason for all that we have in life. You are the truth, you are the way, you are victorious, and you reign forever. We exalt your holy name giving you praise and honor. Thank you for your guidance, your wisdom, your grace, your mercy, your patience, your kindness, your unconditional love, and your compassion. We give you glory God! Hallelujah for your promises that have not and will not ever fail! Hallelujah for your word that has the power to captivate our minds and spirit so that we are directed by you Lord! Hallelujah for relationship with you! Hallelujah for everyone that walked out of our lives! Hallelujah for taking us through the dark and ugly trenches! Hallelujah for our mistakes! Hallelujah for growth and maturity! Hallelujah for the process! Hallelujah just because you deserve another Hallelujah! Hallelujah God! We lift up your name because there is no one greater than you. Lord we open up our hearts in full surrenderance before you. Cleanse us and wash away every sin. Provide us with a fresh start and bless us with a willing heart to always serve you. Help us to continuously build up our faith, our prayer life, and our relationship with you in a way that blesses us with the power to negate the attacks of the enemy. Keep the depths of your promises locked away in our hearts and a trace always flowing through our minds. May your promises bring us confidence, reassurance, encouragement, joy, rest, and peace beyond our own understanding. May your promises help us call to mind our redemption, our freedom, and our protection. May we always be able to stand firmly on your promises no matter how long it may take for you to fulfill them or what we may have to go through to get to them. As we wait for promises to be fulfilled bless us with peace, bless us with patience and bless us with unwavering hope. We desire to always be aligned with your will Lord and pray that you get the glory out of every area of our lives. Use us. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

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Rebuild

10/1/2017

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We have officially entered into the last quarter of the year and as I sought God for direction on what to write about this month, He took me to Ezra chapters 3 through 5 and then directed me to Nehemiah chapters 1 through 4 (take a few moments to go read these passages in the Bible). As I read through these chapters, it was initially difficult to understand the message that God wanted to convey but the more time spent reflecting, the more God began to put things into perspective.

In the book of Ezra those chapters take you through the rebuilding of an altar and the temple in Jerusalem.

“When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, the people assembled together as one in Jerusalem. Then Joshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening sacrifices.” (Ezra 3:1-3 NIV)

Nehemiah’s chapters take you through the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem.

“so I went up the valley by night, examining the wall. Finally, I turned back and reentered through the Valley Gate. The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work. Then I said to them, ‘You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.’ I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me. They replied, ‘Let us start rebuilding.’ So they began this good work.” (Nehemiah 2:15-18 NIV)

In both of these passages, God specifically emphasized rebuilding. When I looked up the definition of rebuild, dictionary.com defined it as: “to repair, especially to dismantle and reassemble with new parts. 2. to replace, restrengthen, or reinforce.” This month I want to encourage each reader to take time to rebuild. Rebuild the areas of your life that you know need work. It could be taking time to rebuild your faith in God. Rebuild your hope. Rebuild your prayer life. Reinforce your commitment to God and rebuild your relationship. Rebuild your way of thinking. Rebuild your joy. Reassemble your ideas and visions that God blessed you with and rebuild the framework now that you’ve been exposed to new experiences. Restrengthen your level of patience, peace, kindness or humility to rebuild your character when faced with inevitable situations.

While you put in time to rebuild the areas of your life that you believe need work this month, I want to let you know that you will face opposition to the rebuilding process. In both Ezra and Nehemiah’s passages from above, there was opposition to the rebuilding.

“When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, ‘What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?’...... But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat." (Nehemiah 4:1-2 and 7-9 NIV)

It is up to you to make the decision to stand strong through the opposition that you will be faced with as you rebuild certain areas of your life this month. It will not be easy, but if you continue rebuilding as much as you can through your opposition, in the long run, God will not disappoint.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
We thank you. Thank you for your faithfulness. Thank you for being a dependable friend. Thank you for being a deliverer. Thank you for being a constant shield of protection. Thank you for the things that you do daily that we don’t know to thank you for. We appreciate you for being all that you are and we give your glory. Lord we pray for a mindset and will to rebuild the areas of our lives that need work. Bless us with the ability to be able to gracefully face the opposition that will come along with rebuilding and teach us to lean on you with complete trust. Guide us throughout this new season of our lives and direct our every move. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

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Double Portion

9/3/2017

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As I sought the Lord for direction on what to write about for this month He immediately took me to an incredible story in the bible about Elijah and Elisha in 2 Kings 2:1-15 NIV:

1 When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. 3 The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know,” Elisha replied, “so be quiet.” 4 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, Elisha; the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho. 5 The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied, “so be quiet.” 6 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.”So the two of them walked on. 7 Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan.

8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground. 9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied. 10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.” 11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two. 13 Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over. 15 The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, “The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.

As we enter into September, I believe that God wanted me to let every reader know that your double portion is on the way. What God is about to bless you with this month will be more than what you asked for. Similar to Elisha, this month it is going to be important that you stay near to your father, God, remain patient and consistent, and always be ready.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
We surrender our hearts, we surrender our minds, and we surrender our flesh before you. We glorify you for where we are, we glorify you for where you’ve brought us from, and we glorify you for where we are going. Thank you for your faithfulness Lord and thank you for your kindness. This month we pray for the ability to cling to you through every circumstance as Elisha clang to Elijah. We pray for patience, we pray for consistency and we pray that we stay ready. Open our hearts and renew the depths of our faith reminding us that through you, anything is possible because there are no limitations. Keep us in a seat of expectancy while you align us with our double portion in your time. Activate our trust, humility, discernment and servitude. In Jesus name we pray, amen.

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Church Folks

8/6/2017

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When I was a younger girl I used to attend a very small, traditional baptist church. I remember one particular time during service, all of the youth were directed down to the basement for a workshop. As part of the workshop we were instructed to write out ways the church could improve the youth ministry to keep youth active. We were told that our ideas would stay in the room we were in but that it would be helpful to hear our voices so we all created lists, drew pictures of how to improve, and even had a chance to share out some of our ideas with one another. At the end of the service, our lists were collected. The following Sunday during service, the pastor of the church made it clear that he had read our lists by the way he spoke to the entire church and looked directly at certain people. He literally went through stating specific things that myself and others had privately written down on our list and he told the entire church that if we had problems with the way the church was being ran, we could leave.

In that moment, I had never felt so uncomfortable and embarrassed in a place where I thought I should be able to find comfort. I told my mom all about what happened and told her that I never wanted to go back to that church again because they were liars and the pastor was too judgemental. Every Sunday, my mother still made me get up to attend church moving forward.

As we enter into the month of August I believe that God wants to begin placing a higher demand on “church folks”. We cannot keep getting up and going to church on Sundays to teach or hear a sermon, attend bible study throughout the week, go to every church event that is happening, or participate in church ministries and believe that those are the things that qualify us to be good people of Christ; yet, we hardly ever serve outside of the four walls of the church on our own time, we place critical judgement on others rather than offering a helping hand or accepting them for exactly who they are, and we do not truly take time to seek a relationship with Christ outside of church.

Jeremiah 7:3-7 NIV says, “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever.”

As a body of Christ I challenge us to challenge ourselves to do better this month. Let’s make a conscious effort to change our ways and actions towards others. Let’s stop oppressing strangers and begin treating one another justly. Let’s stop playing church just to put on a front and start truly chasing after God’s very own heart outside of church. Let’s stop thinking that serving on ministries or having some sort of title is what qualifies us as good people of Christ and let's start intentionally making an effort every day to be good women and men of Christ. All of us are shaped with iniquities and none of us will be perfect but God is not looking for perfection He is longing for our continuous effort.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
We give you Glory for blessing us with another month this year. Thank you for watching over us and keeping us. Thank you for overlooking our ignorant ways. We come before you knowing that we are imperfect and you alone are the only perfection that we know. We confess our sins to you, for you are faithful and just to forgive us for our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness according to your word (1 John 1:9 NLT). Lord we desire to make you happy and we desire to live according to your will. Teach us how to be more Christ like in our everyday walk of life. Teach us how to properly love and treat one another justly. Keep us humble. Keep us in servitude mode. Keep us gentle. We bind all criticizing thoughts and opinions of others and ask that you bless us with the ability to see people for who they are, and accept them exactly as they are. Help the body of Christ to understand that religiously coming to church or being apart of a ministry is not enough, for you have called us to be your ambassadors and speak on your behalf (2 Corinthians 5:20 NLT). Raise us up to become better women and men of God and let always keep our relationship with you at the cornerstone of our lives. In Jesus name we pray, amen.

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